The present invention relates to a soldering iron tip and, more particularly, to an arrangement for extending the life of a soldering iron tip.
Commercial soldering iron tips include an iron barrel holding a shaped copper core that is plated with iron, and is additionally plated with nickel and chrome over the iron in areas other than the working section. The chrome is not wettable by solder and, therefore, acts as a dam restricting the solder to the working section of the soldering iron tip. The nickel helps bind the chrome to the iron. The iron plating defines the exterior surface of the working section of the tip, which is wetted with a small volume of solder, which it retains. The tips are expensive. Soldering iron tips fail as a result of cracking in the iron plating, abrasion and/or wear in the iron plating, and flux corrosion of the iron plating, any one of which exposes the copper core to flux corrosion and digestion by molten solder. Soldering iron tip failure can also occur by dewetting of the iron plating due to high-temperature oxidation.